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The pacing lags when it should accelerate, and the actors’ delivery never matches the dialogue’s sharp brilliance, but the Upstart Crow Theatre Company’s production of The Rivals is a gorgeously costumed community theater production. In addition to providing Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play with an adequate staging, director Joan Kuder Bell has taken on the assignment of designing the eighteenth-century garb. With the help of four seamstresses, she has crafted a splendid wardrobe that would be the envy of any professional theater. Combined with a handful of amusing portrayals, the three-hour effort intermittently entertains.
Longtime Crow ensemble member Richard Bell leads the company with his energized portrait of Sir Anthony Absolute, an overbearing father figure who insists that he’s open to compromise as long as he gets his own way. As the play begins, we learn that Sir Anthony is intent upon marrying off his son, Captain Jack, to a lady of Sir Anthony’s choosing. To make sure the boy knows who’s in charge, Sir Anthony vows, “She’ll be as ugly as I choose!”
Naturally, that doesn’t sit very well with Jack, who’s already smitten with a young woman (and saddled with comically complex identity issues). As played by Eric Wahlberg, our brave young hero comes across a tad less Machiavellian than he should. But while Wahlberg’s portrayal lacks panache, it’s full of charm and sincerity; he strikes up an easy rapport with the audience when delivering several brief asides, and he develops a cozy relationship with the object of his affection, Lydia Languish. As said love interest, Kathryn Gould proves both likable and poised. Her exchanges with Sir Anthony’s ward, Julia Melville (given an attractive rendering by actress Monica Marie), lend some luster and sparkle to the often dry proceedings. Craig Martin imbues his portrait of Captain Jack’s manservant with understatement and warmth. And, as always, it’s a pleasure to watch stalwart community performer Chet Martin take on a plum character role: Here, he turns in a robust portrait of the roguish Sir Lucius O’Trigger.
Unfortunately, the show wears thin midway through, and it becomes progressively difficult to endure past the two-hour mark. Director Bell and the actors don’t always make the characters’ motives clear, which, in turn, causes us to lose interest in the story. Neither does the play’s abundance of wordplay elicit the intended hearty laughter: A couple of one-liners and isolated exchanges work well enough, but most of the malapropisms (a word that was coined in honor of one of the play’s characters, Mrs. Malaprop) land with a disquieting thud.
What the production lacks in verbal agility, though, it nearly makes up for with visual splendor. “Fighting Bob” Acres sports a beautiful dark-blue suit that somehow looks dapper and, at the same time, appropriately overdone; Sir Anthony’s shiny purple coat and breeches shimmer when reflecting the painted floor’s bright pink hue; O’Trigger’s getup has more shades of green than any human being has a right to wear at the same time, and the lusty lout still manages to cut a fine figure in the process; and the women glide about the stage in perfectly proportioned, flowing gowns.
Best of all, every costume was newly constructed rather than, as is often the case with a small group working on a tight budget, rented or pulled from stock. In fact, the finely tailored display alone is almost worth the price of admission — a laudable accomplishment that, much like the charming period dance that occurs at the end of the play, serves as a pleasant reminder of community theater’s unique appeal.
